Notes / Commercial Description:
Finally an American IPA from us. This beautiful red-orange ale has a full malty body balanced by a fruity apricot/grapefruit nose. Mounds of dank Summit hops in the whirlpool and dry-hop additions provide a delicious finish to this East meets West-coast ale.

Surprsingly light colour with lots of white head. Pine resin aromas. Initially good hop flavour, then a little astringent finish. Leaves one a bit unsatisfied, even a 7.6% abv. Drinkable nonetheless. Average or even above average mouthfeel, but still missing balance and very good hop flavour.

Pours a hazy honey orange with a foamy khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, citrus fruit, citrus zest, and slight herbal hop aromas. Taste is much the same with malt and citrus zest flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with a nice citrus forward hop presence that is slightly better in the smell.

A: The beer is hazy copper/orange in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation along with visible particles floating in suspension. It poured with a finger high light beige head that has good retention properties and never completely faded away, leaving thick rings of bubbles down the sides of the glass.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of grapefuit hops in the nose.
T: Similar to the smell, the taste has flavors of grapefruit and pine resin hops as well as apricots. There is a moderate amount of bitterness—which particularly stands out and lingers through the aftertaste. There are hints of caramel malts.
M: It feels medium-bodied and crisp on the palate with a moderate to high amount of carbonation. There is some dryness in the finish.
O: The grapefruit hops contribute nice aromas and flavors to the taste; however, these could be better balanced through the use of more hops.

Taking me back to when the American IPA had really no authentic identity. A time when the ale more resembled an English-type IPA but made with American malt substitutions to emulate British character and using the more piquant and citrusy domestic hops for a taste of something different. -that's what this IPA reminds me of...

Cisco's Indie Pale Ale is a bronzen amber color with copper highlights. Its lightly filtered haze pays complements to its hop use while a light and sandy head billows above. Darker than the average IPA, the ale laces beautifully with intricate patterns.

Its toasty and toffee aroma is bready, biscuity, sweetly scented and pleasantly nutty and savory. A citrus scent to follows offers a whiff of orange peel, grapefruit and torn pine needles just before the sip.

Similarly, a hearty caramel sweetness transpires much like the heavy hand of kettle caramelization. Followed by pecan, bread crust and light toast, a sense of brittle comes to mind before its hoppy middle arrives. Medium citrus tones of grapefruit, freshly zested oranges, apricot give a bright taste midway through before the finish of pine, grass and ginger spice transpires.

Medium in body, the beer's inherent and richer taste gives its texture a bit more heft as well. Its toffee-laden creaminess begins to dissolve over the middle as its fleeting carbonation takes the bulk of sweetness with it, allowing for the light and spicy warmth of alcohol to dry the taste alongside of lightly resinous hops.

Not as fruity or biscuity as English IPA but not as dry or citrusy-bitter as current American versions, Indie Pale Ale toes the line where they meet- sharing the best of both but leaving us yearning for their extremities.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy amber color with a stiff beaten egg white head that refuses to dissipate

Smell: Nice blend of caramel malt and piney hops; lots of depth

Taste: The balanced malt and hop flavors appear at the outset with the piney, somewhat floral hops, joined by the caramel backbone; the combination gets a bit resinous by mid-palate; the flavors continue to build after the swallow, but the hop flavors adds a citrusy grapefruit element; some residual sweetness on the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with a bit too much carbonation

Drinkability: With the exception of the mouthfeel, this is a fine IPA; clearly the best beer I have tasted from Cisco (but I have to admit my experience has been mixed with this brewery - hopefully they are getting some of their problems from years past behind them)

Tap: Poured a brown color ale with a small foamy head with minimal retention. Aroma of floral hops notes with limited notes of bitterness with light caramelized malt notes. Taste is also a mix between some caramelized malt with some floral hoppy notes with a light bitter finish. Body was a bit thin for the style with average carbonation. Lacking a bit of character for the style.

Bottle code 1152, guessing a Julian code of April 2012. Odd that the Bailey's Blonde from the same shop had a clear printed bottling date.

Dark amber color with orange red highlights, good clarity, and a fluffy head of foam that rises in a convex dome above the rim of the glass. Tons of lacing, flecks all arounf the glass, all the way down. Looks great.

Nondescript aroma, muted and faded, sadly very little to go on. A few swirls pulls out vague specialty malt and something vaguely citric. No hint of Summit dry hopping that the label mentions, but aroma is usually the first to go over time.

Mellow and flat in flavor. Nothing much to go on here too, though some bitterness and astringency are present. Light alcohol presence too, seems out of place... Feel is smooth though, in general, though the astringency gets unpleasant after awhile. Dumped the last half, will try another fresher sample if Lush puts out fresh stock on these... Sucks they're pushing old beer though.

A - Pours with one finger of off-white foam on top of a hazy, amber-brown body. The head settles at a moderate pace and leaves nice lace on the glass.

S - Sweaty, musty hop aromas with a bit of pine and lots of caramel and toffee malt in the background.

T - Sweet malt up front with notes of caramel and toffee. Some pine and citrus hop flavors come out in the middle and blend nicely with the sweet malt. The beer finishes with lost of sugar and dark bread as well as moderate bitterness to balance.

M - A moderately thick body, average carbonation, and a sweet finish.

D - This is a sweet, malty "east coast" IPA that reminds me in many ways of DFH 90min. The malt is just as prominent as the hop character, though things come out pretty balanced in the finish.

Poured into an imperial nnic a clear rich burnt orage color with a large blooming white head that left alot of scum behind as it settled slowly into a frothy mass.The label was spot in its description of the aromas,apricot and grapefruit really stand out over top of biscuit malt.The beer really went downhill from there in my opinion first with an almost watery feel in the mouth and then its lack of hop punch on the palate.Grapefruit is there but subdued with caramel malt flavors coming thru,I think the lack of body keeps the flavors silenced a little.It started out good but again it downhill after the aromas.

Nose has nice grassy hops, slightly earthy, a bit floral, and just a touch of fruity hops like tangerine, under that is a bit of a sweet malt base for a nice balance.

Taste starts with a clean ale taste, and gets fairly bitter quickly, hops come on quickly but mostly bittering hops at first, then a bit of earthy slight herbal hops, bit of fruity hops again with a slight tangerine, a nice malty backbone gives it a nice balance, semi sweet malts. Finishes slightly dry, fairly bitter as it seems to build just a bit as it goes, lingering clean bitterness, a slight earthy hop character.

Mouth is medium bodied, great carbonation adding a nice palate cleanser to the bitterness and semi sweetness.

overall pretty good, nice hop characters, good carbonation, the flavoring hops die off a bit on the palate so I took a slight edge off for that.

A: The beer is a deep amber color, with a large off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of floral hops, fruity citrus and some caramelized malts.

T: The taste is starts out malty with a smoky caramel sweetness and some citrus in the background. Then a grassy hops bitterness comes in and creates a good balance, especially after the beer warms a bit. The after-taste is slightly hoppy.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, good kick, decent representation of style, it's a decent beer and the smokiness makes for a nice twist added to the typical IPA, however there are several other IPA's that I would pick first.

Another New England special that I was able to get a hold of lately. It seems I am running myself through this entire lineup as of late! This nice twenty two ounce bomber was served cold, right out of the fridge and poured into a twenty four ounce pilsner glass. Consumed on 10/20/2008.

The pour was rather, shall we say vigorous? Not quite a gusher, but the foam was edging its nose out of the bottle when I popped the cap. This resulted in a head of lace that was nearly four inches in height and that never really did fade much beyond that at all. Lots of carbonation could be seen through the hazy, orange amber colored beer, which just had a really nice shade to it. Looked to be very solid.

The aroma let me down a bit, as I was expecting something big after all the nice looking start to it. Still, nice notes of orange and tangerine, with a good hint of biscuit like balance thrown into the middle of it. The flavor was more of the same, this was not one of those crisp, mouth shredding IPA's, it was much more mellow, balanced and subdued. Nice touches of pine and resin coming through on the first wave, but these quickly mellowed and were replaced by a nice and very subtle biscuit like flavor that rounded out the profile very nicely. Rich and chewy, this was about as full bodied IPA as you were going to get, though the carbonation kept it from coming across as too thick or syrup like. Nice strong finish to it, with just enough of a sharp and bitter bite to really dry out the palate in anticipation of the next sip. Easily session able, I found myself having this bottle go down quite well with dinner.

Overall a very solid effort from Cisco. While not my favorite, it has to be noted for the subtly and balance that it provided. I would have no issue at all with trying this one again anytime.

A: Pours a slightly hazy golden orange to copper in color with some very light amounts of visible carbonation. The beer has a finger tall off-white head that reduces but leaves a thick layer covering the entire surface of the beer. Significant lacing is observed.

S: Strong aromas of grapefruit hops dominate the smell of this beer. There is a slight hint of bitterness in the smell.

T: The beer starts with a light caramel malt sweetness which is quickly replaced by the hop flavor. There is a great flavor of grapefruit hop with a slight hint of apricot. This beer is moderately bitter with a lingering bitterness.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Crisp with a light amount of dryness in the finish.

O: This is a good beer and an enjoyable beer. Thus far I have been impressed with everything that I have tried from this brewery and glad that I was able to find the bottle of this in NYC (prior to this I had pretty much only drank these beers at Boston Logan Airport where there is a Cisco pub). I like this beer and would likely get it again.

Beautiful neutral amber color with a small amount of chill haze. Excellent lasting and rocky head that leaves ample lace after each sip.

Nice fresh hop smell, very appealing. Nearly no malt nose.

Better balance in the flavor, but hop is completely dominant after the initial sip. Dry hoppy finish that lasts a very long time. The malt does provide a solid body. Lots of complexity particularly with how the hops change flavor throughout the tasting.

This is one of the better IPA's I've had in quite some time. I will seek this out in the future.

Always good to see a new brewery come to the area. (Though I've already had a couple o' these guys, thanks to my time in NoVa...) This "first impression" pours a hazy sunset goldenrod topped by over a finger of very lightly off-white foam. The nose is initially a blast of slightly dank onions, followed by a wave of musty wheat, then one of light lemon zest and sweetgrass. Hoofah, this stuff does not treat my 'strils well at all. The taste tones the onions down a notch, but not enough for it to matter all that much. The wheat and citrus are still there as well, slightly stronger, but they can't quite balance out the onion. Damn shame, really. The body is a rather light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a kinda dry finish. Overall, I was not at all a fan of this brew. ...That's all I've got...

This beer is representative of how far behind I got with regard to the all-important CANQuest (TM). I CANnot remember where it came fromwhen I acquired it, or anything else. F**sake!

From the CAN: "Finally, an Ameri[CAN] IPA from us ... This beautiful red-orange ale has a full malty body, balanced by a fruity apricot/grapefruit nose. Mounds of dank Summit hops in the whirlpool and dry-hop additions provide a delicious finish to this East meets West-coast ale.

My Crack not only revealed another brimful craft CAN, but it produced a little splash, indicative of its desire to come out and play. Who would I be to deny it the opportunity? An inverted Glug and we were away and running. It not only generated some nice faux-cascading action, but also a smell of grapefruit that filled the kitchen. The dense, rocky two-plus fingers of tawny head had a great lasting power and I heard strains of Carly Simon singing "Anticipation" since it was making me wait. As it slowly fell, the sticky lacing that it left behind in its wake was a wonderment to behold. Nose was very grapefruit-y, underlain by a caramel sweetness. My mouth was watering and the first sip evidenced a medium mouthfeel and a very grapefruit-like bitterness on the tongue. I got the subtle apricot taste on the finish, although I may have glossed over it were it not for their verbiage. Finish was super-dry and gasping, just the way this hophead likes it.

Pours a deep dark crimson color darker than most barleywines these days. Thick light beige head stands up tall and rises thick above the rim of the chalice. As it dwindles down it leaves behind fine speckled lacing, and I guess it's time to describe the hop nose. Bright fruity notes I'm getting apricot with herbal/earthy/floral citrus there's some definite hops in here, especially some well blended Summits because I'm not getting any vegetable/garlic/or onion thank God. As I say that about the aroma I'm getting exactly that a bunch of Summit hops provided some spicy onion/garlic like notes but it blends well with these dark fruitier malts. Without this yeast and malt combo this would be completely one sided in the worst way with Summit. Mouthfeel is slightly slick with hop oils, but carbonation works well with the spicy hops and residual hop resins sticking around. Overall experience comes off a bit too spicy for me, but I'm still liking the East Coast to West Coast tribute IPA we got going on. Just not my favorite brew ever, but solid stand up be ready for something different than the mainstream.

A - dark amber with a big, foamy, off white head that has good retention

S - bread, candy sugar, sweet, caramel, citrusy

T - caramel, sugar, dark bread, citrus, alcohol

M - warm, almost boozy, medium to full bodied, well carbonated

This is an intense IPA. It definitely comes close to DIPA if not Barleywine Jr. It's intensely malty and sugary, but very hoppy and citrusy. The balance is nice. My only complaint is that the alcohol is a little over done. Other than that this was a nicely done IPA.

Poured on-tap and served in a tumbler pint, the beer is an auburn-copper color with a thick, dense, off-white head. Nose of caramel and fresh, oregano spiced hops. FLavors are caramel rich and slightly boozey, with a spicy hops presence. Grapefruit flavors and tang all over the palate. The aftertaste is tangy, as well, and hoppy, with a rich, slightly drying finish. Very tasty.

Pours murky darker amber with a dark copper hue. Large tan head, stays and stays, and leaves some thick sheeting and webs of thick lace.

Malty nose, noticeably lacking in hops.

On the palate, hops are present but mostly with a resinous quality. Lacking in aromatic interest. Seems at the same time to be lacking in body, stale and over carbonated. Diactyle comes to mind. Not my favorite take on the style Just seems to be off and not all that enjoyable.

Beer is red and mildly haze with a white head of small bubbles, lots of lacing but low carbonation.

Aroma is malty, like a barleywine...booo!!!!

Beer is thick and sweet with a mildly bitter finish but an insanely malty midpalate...what am I going to have to drink to wash this malt bomb out of my mouth now? It is cloying for an IPA, very heavy, very sweet, not a nice beer.